The Gilded Age and Westward Expansion Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, laws, and concepts from the Gilded Age, Westward Expansion, and Nativism.

Manifest Destiny

The belief and driving force that encouraged Americans to move and settle westward across the continent.

Homestead Act of 1862

A law passed in 1862 that offered settlers free or cheap public land out West, requiring them to convert it to private property and reside on/improve it for 5 years.

Union Pacific

A railroad company hired by Congress that built track West starting in Omaha, Nebraska, crossing the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains.

Central Pacific

A railroad company hired by Congress that built track East starting in Sacramento, California, crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Transcontinental Railroad

A rail line completed on May 10, 1859, that connected the West to the rest of the United States, making shipping less expensive and travel easier.

Dawes Act of 1887

A law intended to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream American culture by encouraging them to become 'americanized.'

American Indian Citizenship Act

A law that granted immediate U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States.

Nativism

The fear or dislike of foreign-born immigrants, driven by a desire to promote a homogeneous society.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1883

The first U.S. law passed to restrict immigration, enacted in response to job competition and fear of stolen jobs on the West Coast.

Push Factors

Negative conditions that force people to leave their home country, such as oppression, war, religious persecution, and famine (extreme hunger).

Pull Factors

Positive conditions that attract immigrants to a new country, such as freedom, economic opportunity, and geographic proximity (closeness).

Assimilation

The process of adopting mainstream culture, which the U.S. government sought to impose on Native Americans and immigrants.

Laissez-Faire

A French term meaning 'hands off,' describing an economic policy where the government does not interfere in the free market.

Social Darwinism

The application of Charles Darwin's theory of 'survival of the fittest' to human society, arguing that only the rich survive and that being poor is an individual's own fault.

Bessemer Process

A manufacturing process developed in 1856 that provided a more efficient method of producing steel.

Monopoly

A big business that completely controls the market for a specific product, allowing it to fix prices due to a lack of competition.

Philanthropist

A wealthy individual who donates money to charity or public causes to benefit society for the greater good.

Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie's philosophy that rich people should use their enormous fortunes to give money to charity in ways that benefit society.

Captains of Industry

A positive term for big business leaders who expanded markets, created jobs, and funded public institutions through philanthropy.

Robber Baron

A negative term for big business leaders who drained the country of natural resources, paid low wages, subjected workers to dangerous conditions, and corrupted public officials.

Andrew Carnegie

The Gilded Age industrialist who founded Carnegie Steel, paid low wages/IOUs, and promoted the Gospel of Wealth.

John D. Rockefeller

The industrialist who founded Standard Oil Company, held a monopoly over oil, and forced railroad companies to give him special rates.

J.P. Morgan

A prominent and successful banker during the Gilded Age associated with CHASE.

Thomas Edison

The inventor of electricity and the lightbulb, which allowed businesses to stay open longer and extend working hours.

Alexander Graham Bell

The inventor of the telephone, which enabled people to communicate across long distances.

Rural

Relating to the countryside or farming areas.

Urban

Relating to cities or industrialized areas.

Political Corruption

The practice during the Gilded Age involving special privileges, bribes, and dishonest relationships between industries and government officials.